Friday, 13 January 2012

When I’m Sixty-Four ...

Well – yes! Amazing to think that those Beatles’ lyrics written forty-nine years ago are still so relevant today ... and did any of us every think we’d see the year 2000 AD, or for that matter get to 64 – the new Middle Age?

... will you still be sending me a valentine

Birthday greetings bottle of wine?

... will you still need me, will you still feed me,

when I’m sixty-four?

Oh and I have some lovely history for you ... and some wonderful looooong words! Just my kind of day – well perhaps if I was forever young?

What is today? – Friday the 13th ... yonks ago I was 13 on Friday 13th ... if you’re going to have a birthday on the 13th do it properly ... and really properly ...

... with so many connotations falling at this time of year: St Hilary’s Day – today – the start of the University Hilary term, and the start of the Hilary Law term ... such is life – on top of that hilarious means full of happiness – here too I remain true to my name.

So I reflect January 13th ... now comes the interesting bit?! I have no fear of Friday 13th, but if you do it is called friggatriskaidekaphobia!!!

Frigg's grass

Frigga being the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named, and the next bit triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number 13 – there is a Greek connection too – but I’ll leave you to explore that.

Superstition holds Friday the 13th to be a day of bad luck ... but sometimes we bring those portends with us – and if we get on with life ... all will be well: my way of living. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here .... and I quite like being here and would like to remain so for a while longer yet.

The Curzon

Just to change the subject as I’m wont to do ... and as I’m a talkative blogger – I’ll go silent for a while ... back one hundred years to the Silent Movie Days.

1912 offered three cinemas to audiences in Eastbourne (an innovative town), while ‘our’ cinema, The Curzon, first opened in 1920 as The Picturedrome ... by the time 1930 came round there were 9 cinemas.

I’m a dedicated supporter for 20 years now of our Eastbourne Film Society, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006, who use The Curzon for their performances.

The Society gave us a performance of the silent film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (1928) on the release of a new print – highly praised by Robert Ebert ... and which mesmerised me totally as my post reflects.

The keyboard of a "Mighty Wurlitzer" from the
Museum of Musical Instruments, Berlin

Neil Brand, that Doyen of silent accompanists, joined us at the piano for our Joan of Arc show ... the Wurlitzer having long gone. Neil hails from Eastbourne when the Curzon was his stamping ground in his early days of restoring the Silent Movie Musician to his rightful place in the history of film.

“The Artist” (2011), the-little-movie-that-could success story that has snowballed into an audience favourite – a Cannes award-winner ... and who knows as the respect for this French upstart plays on towards the major prizes.

Eastbourne from the Downs

The Curzon will not let us down ... and the movie will come to town – Kevin Maher in the Saturday Times Review says ... ‘The Artist' is a testament to the fundamentals of cinematic storytelling, and a threnody for an art-form undone by the demands of dialogue. (Remember Hitchcock on dialogue? A good movie, he said, works with the sound off.)

This is a film I will not
be seeing!

So today is a day for celebration friggatriskaidekaphobia withstanding! Over 100 years of cinema, 82 years of talkies to the day in Eastbourne, a cinema that’s ticking on towards 100, over 65 years of the Film Society, actually I too am now officially in my 65th year albeit I call myself 64 ...

... and one last celebration ... this is my first post of year four at blogging, number 375, which as Clarissa mentioned is about four novels worth – 380,000 words. How this tangled mess of eclectic thoughts could ever be put into a novel is beyond me ... I’m sure sometime a few booklets will appear.

Many of the Beatles thoughts appear not to relate ... but they perhaps do in ways I could never expect ... my mother still needs me when I’m 64 – we just never know where life will lead us.

The bottle of wine will be enjoyed – my mother was surprised to see me pull one out of her drawer wrapped up in one of her cloths that Susie had hidden away for me!

Fricka rides a chariot in
this illustration by
Arthur Rackman to
Richard Wagner's
Der Ring de Nubilungen

And I learnt a new word ... keeping the old brain cells ticking over ... ‘threnody’ = a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed from the Greek word threnos (wailing) and the Proto-Indo-European root wed (to speak) ... that is also the precursor of such words as ode, tragedy, comedy, parody, melody and rhapsody.

Please note ‘threnody’ refers to the resurgence of The Silents as they continue apace ... to the first three decades of the 20th century – when movies were cross-cultural and, without language barriers to bother them, could focus on artistic excellence and storytelling, and is not a dirge to me!!

Thus in the 1920s a horror film from Germany, such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, happily co-existed with the Charlie Chaplin melodrama, The Kid, or the Buster Keaton comedy Our Hospitality.

These films, and this era, bore witness to one of the 20th century’s most enduring inventions – movie stars. Here Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the global role models, and even established the studio United Artists, in 1919, to protect their burgeoning brands.

I list Kevin Maher’s Top Ten Silent Films – for interest:

1.The Passion of Joan of Arc: Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928.

2.Nanook of the North: Robert J Flaherty, 1922.

3.The Great Train Robbery: Edwin S Porter, 1903.

4.A Trip to the Moon: Georges Méliès, 1902.

5.Sunrise: F W Murnau, 1927.

6.The General: Buster Keaton, 1926.

7.Broken Blossoms: D W Griffith, 1919.

8.The Cabinet of Dr Caligari: Robert Wiene, 1920.

9.Metropolis: Fritz Lang, 1927.

10.Battleship Potemkin: Sergei M Eisenstein, 1925.

As I said – I’m wordy .. but they only pop up on your Reader once every x days ... no commitment as to days of posting I note!

1904 Easbourne Life Boat station

My mother will be as surprised as I am that I have reached this tender age - she told me a while I ago ... I'd never reach her age, and I'd be a double O old aged pensioner ... those sorts of comments bring lots of laughs and good memories.

70 comments:

Man, that's a lot to digest! :) I was born on Friday the 13th - in March. My mother said that's why she always knew Friday the 13th to be good luck, rather than bad. Now, she and I don't talk, so she may be changing her tune...

I have to say, I'm not a fan of silent films, yet without them, cinema wouldn't be what it is today.

Interesting how nestled within the tangent thoughts of your post lies the gem that it is your birthday! I like that it's Saint Hilary Day, too. Do parents still give their baby the name of its birth day saint? What a nice connection to have.

@ April - I was going to post this last Summer - not for my birthday obviously ... but never got there. Now The Artist is out .. with the Silent Movie connection - Joan of Arc - I just felt I could 'quickly' give a whizz through one hundred years of cinema in Eastbourne .. particularly as talkies started here on Friday 13th 1930.

You're right Cinema developing over the years ... and yes wine and a celebratory song today ... just sorry about your mother, but your family looks wonderful ...

@ Joanne - thanks so much .. hope it isn't too much! Different cultures seem to have different traits .. here I'd say we tend to link grandparents and parents in - and some ensure their name carries on.

My parents I understand tried to give us names that other members of our very large families hadn't used ... Jenny Hobhouse's sister Hilary died of polio .. and I'm sure the date wouldn't have gone unnoticed in their choice - my father was at Oxford and was a lawyer ... so I guess a very logical name!

Thank you for your coffee cup raised as a toast .. and the Rock On: I'll keep on doing that.

@ Janice - gosh you typed or copied both of those w-o-r-d-s out!! Much easier saying HB - I agree and thank you .. yes the 13th isn't so bad - as Feb 29th would be sad too .. cheers to you when you toast.

Happy Birthday Hilary, yes 'When I'm 64' seems like a million years ago now. I will be 69 this year, in the Beatles era I would have now classed myself as over the hill LOL. At heart I still feel like a youngster it is just them old bones do not feel quite the same! Have a great day Diane

Happy Birthday, Hilary. Once again an informative post from you, my friend. I love to learn new words. I read so many books and it is amazing how few of them have words I need to look up. P.D. James being the exception. Her I must read with a dictionary close by. And now, maybe when I read your blog as well.

Hilary, Happy Birthday. As I read your post tonight I also raise my cup of coffee (yes, I drink it at odd hours) in a toast to your birthday and many, many more. In addition, congratulations on beginning your fourth year blogging. I always enjoy your post. They are informative, entertaining and inspiring. Looking forward to many more.

Hello Hilary,And this time, mercifully, I leave you with a short comment with a long word 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousaphobia' Which is the fear of American actors with bad Cockney accents...Cheers,Gary

When I'm sixy-four. The Beatles. Still love them. Married to first husband, he would ask me with this line, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when...." Ironic, considering what happened to the marriage.

p.s. How movies have changed. And how great those very early movies are! Film writers/makers can learn so much more from watching them than any of the recent ones. WRITERS can learn so much from them about nuances of characters, etc.

@ Gary - love your phobia word - so much I'm not going to type it out! It is a great word though by whoever invented it ...

@ Ann - very ironic considering the wheels of life you've been through .. and I expect there are many other examples from those times.

It's quite comforting to know I'm young to some people!

Thanks for the birthday wishes .. and how films have changed as you say - you're right re the story telling within some of the films made .. it was interesting to read that the actors had to slow down just a smidgeon .. so the effect could be portrayed on the screen with maximum impression.

@ Scarlett - thank you ... great that the kids will enjoy 'frigga' ... and Gary's 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousaphobia' and Janice's "Paraskavedekatriaphobia!" - the Greek version.

I think you should share a silent film with your kids - they'll love them - and they're short usually .. so a good fun interlude ...

From the little I've heard about 'The Artist' - it is taking the world by storm .. a good outing for you and hubby?!

Great to see you Gary, Ann and Scarlett - have lovely weekends .. cheers Hilary

Wonderful and interesting as ever Hilary, I used to think when the Beatles sang that song"When I'm Sixty Four" wow that's old, well I have past that milestone and dreading the next.Loved your history lesson, as I said always interesting.

You are only sixty-four years young! And no need to go silent on our behalf, we love all your words, all 384, 000 plus of them. What I like best about blogging is that these words will last forever. For years and years to come people will stumble across your blog and read your insightful posts. Keep them coming, Hilary. And Congrats!

Happy birthday, Hilary! Wow, what a post! I always enjoy visiting your blog and seeing what interesting morsels you'll be sharing this time. You may call it wordy, but I call it a creative source of information and variety.

As for the silent films--I wasn't sure from the post whether you've yet seen The Artist?? It's charming and the Jack Russell definitely steals the show. Interesting to experience how well music can give us the story.

I watched Battleship Potemkin recently. Wonderful. There, depending on the version you get, the music is by Dmitri Shostakovich, BTW. And here's another great one for your list: Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky (music there is by Prokofiev).

Happy birthday, hilarious Hilary . I never know where you are going to take me next! Just as well that I have no fear of Friday 13th, because I wouldn't be able to pronounce that word! Sixty four is not as old as it once seemed, when the Beetles first sang that song.

A belated Happy Birthday to you, Hilary!! And Happy St. Hilary Day, how perfect! I can remember listening to that Beatles' song when I was a kid and thinking 64 might as well be 200 years old. Now it doesn't seem old, or very far off, at all. Love the name for the Friday the 13th phobia. Who knew??

Happy Birthday again, and many happy returns. Have a great week ahead! :)

Not superstitious so I didn't even realize it was a Friday the 13th until it was mostly over :)

It's incredible how much the world has changed in 64 years and it shocks me how close 64 is to me now - just over a decade away...though each year makes me more and more grateful to be alive and gives more cause for quiet celebration.

Hey Hilary,Whoops! *Hangs head in shame*. I was so involved in submitting that phobia and here goes, take a deep breath, 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousaphobia', that I forget to type the most important part. Humble apologies and a belated birthday to you :) In humbleness, Gary

Hope you had a lovely, lovely birthday. Yes, I also remember hearing that song and thinking how impossible it would be to turn 64. I'm not there yet but it's only a matter of a few years and far too close for comfort.

I do hope The Artist comes to your local soon. I saw it yesterday and it's well worth a visit. In some of the scenes they use the facial expressions and body language in a very clever way. It's quite charming.

@ Shirley .. thank you - it was peaceful and that's what mattered, but definitely here's to many more.

Glad you can see the connections .. for frigga .... and the 13th all round .. thanks so much.

@ Ros - many thanks - yes it was lovely - it's incredible to think we used to think we'd never reach there .. or in your case rocking and rolling towards the magic 64!!

The Artist will come - they're very good ... as we have such a vibrant film society .. and if you've seen it and said it's great .. and very clever in its use of 'silent film work' .. I'm looking forward to it.

In my Passion of Joan of Arc silent post I mentioned .. Roger Ebert's review is linked too - and that film has to be the best I've ever seen - and it's a silent film. Quite extraordinary ..

Congratulations on so many levels, Hilary. Sorry I missed your birthday. Hope it was utterly fabulous. You are one of the nicest 64 year olds I know. I love that song, and yes, I'm just a few years short.

Movies offer insight into how we view our deepest selves. On one level, movies offer escapism and fuel for the imagination. On other levels, they invite self-awareness and growth. Whether we respond to what seems to be going on around us in the external world or not, is often mirrored in our film choices and how we respond emotionally. Notice genres that appeal to you and what you avoid. Everything invites you to learn about you.

Hi Liara .. I don't often see blockbusters - so am sent out of the film considering life - and different aspects of our life - be it now or in the past. I'm a learner .. evaluating particulars and where they sit - so I learn about me too.

Hi Michelle .. yes the frigg word! I still can't say that "Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousaphobia" which has an extra phobia added to it .. after all these years - I think I'll miss out on being able to say the frigg word!

I am a bit late, but Happy Birthday Hilary! Hope you enjoyed a wonderful day! You know, I'm all for stretching a birthday celebration out to a week or so, and I highly recommend it in your case! Why not? :D Wish we could meet for tea and celebrate!Blessings to you,Karen

That was an info packed post for sure. The topic of silent movies particularly caught my eye. I love them, but my wife is not a fan so I don't watch them often. The list is a good one. I particularly like Sunrise. I know they're somewhat politically incorrect, but I also like Birth of a Nation and Intolerance--a lot going on in those films.

I passed my driving test on Friday 13th February, I signed the lease on my shop fourteen years ago on Friday the thirteenth of February, I signed the lease on my second shop on May 13th and on my third shop on February 13th (neither were Fridays), and I am running the Holkham Half Marathon on May 13th this eyar - phew! So no, I have no fears about the 13th or Friday the 13th! Lovely post, Hilary.

Hi Mandy .. I might have passed mine on April 13th .. it was during the Easter holidays. Lots of Friday the 13ths, or just 13ths... I've lived in two houses numbered the 13th .. so like you no worries re the 13th.

About Me

A lover of life – who after London, spent time in South Africa; an administrator, sports lover, who enjoys cooking and entertaining ... who through her mother’s illness found a new passion – writing, in particular blogging; which provides an opportunity for future exploration, by the daughter, who has (in her 3rd age years) found a love of historical education. Curiosity didn’t kill this cat – interaction is the key!